Carey Richardson, marketing director with NuBank, the San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based consulting firm that is helping Patriot with the offering, said legal restrictions prevent her from releasing an exact figure. But as of Friday, she said, the thrift had raised 89 percent of its target.
Vincent Fazio, chief financial officer of the proposed bank, also couldn't give an exact figure, but said it was well on its way to its goal of $7.2 million to $9.2 million.
More than a dozen area businesspeople first organized the effort two years ago in response to the mergers and acquisitions that had left the Canajoharie area without a locally based bank. But the organizers fell short trying to raise $3.8 million to $4.2 million on their own to start the thrift.
Then the group hired Bankmark -- a subsidiary of NuBank -- and pushed its target higher. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved its latest offering circular in July.
Richardson said there is increasing interest in the Northeast in starting new community banks. NuBank has heard from an individual in Albany and another in Schenectady who want to start new banks, though she said she couldn't identify them.
If Patriot's offering succeeds, the bank would face stiff competition in the Capital Region, and in its home in Montgomery County. First Niagara Bank, based in western New York, leads in the county, with 42.5 percent of deposits, according to June data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Norwich-based NBT Bank is second, with 26 percent of deposits, followed by Cleveland-based KeyBank, with 8.3 percent.
But Patriot would open with a boost, thanks to its April deal with Trustco Bank to buy that institution's branch at 211 Erie Blvd. in Canajoharie. That would give the fledgling institution hundreds of customers and about $10 million in deposits up-front.
Ironically, the branch was Canajoharie-based Landmark Community Bank's sole office before Trustco bought it in 2000 to obtain a thrift charter. Landmark's president and chief executive, Gordon Coleman, is leading the efforts to establish Patriot Federal Bank.
The former Landmark branch will be Patriot's first office, though it expects to open a loan office in Amsterdam in the second year. That office could eventually become a second full-service branch.
In its fall market report, the FDIC reported stable profits for banks within the state. It found that an improving employment picture was contributing to stronger mortgage loan portfolios.
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